SCHOOL BOARD PROBE

Portfolio minister Fayval Williams has issued a fact-finding directive to a team within the education ministry to determine the scope and extent to which persons are appointed to multiple school boards and for “inordinate” periods.

Williams’ instructions come amid troubling findings in a report by the Integrity Commission, which probed allegations of nepotism, impropriety, and irregularity in board appointments at the behest of censured government minister William J.C. Hutchinson in his St Elizabeth North Western constituency.

In a Gleaner interview on Thursday, a day after the report was tabled in Parliament, Williams said that she has “asked for the research to be done” into the tenures on the more than 1,000 school boards across the island.

The education minister said that this would not be restricted to Lola Marshall-Williams, who was flagged in the report, but all boards to ensure that “the same persons are not continuing for an inordinately long time”.

“We do need new perspective [and] persons with new ideas to be on the board. We want to reach out to more persons to serve on our boards. So I’ve asked for that to be done so that I have the correct information,” said Williams.

Marshall-Williams, according to the Integrity Commission report, is the intimate partner of Hutchinson, who had on multiple occasions appointed her to serve on the board of directors for several schools within St Elizabeth North Western.

Marshall-Williams was appointed to five school boards on at least 11 occasions between 2008 and 2021.

The schools were Maggotty High, Lacovia High, Lewisville High, Newton Primary, and Holland Primary.

Objections were raised about her appointment to the three high schools, the report revealed.

When contacted by The Gleaner on Thursday for comment on what the Integrity Commission said amounted to a conflict of interest, Marshall-Williams said that she was in a meeting and abruptly ended the call.

Follow-up calls were not answered.

Hutchinson could not be reached for comment on the findings of the report as several calls to his cell phone went unanswered.

Executive director of the National Council on Education (NCE), Merris Murray, told the Integrity Commission that for the four periods in which Marshall-Williams was appointed to Maggotty’s board, Hutchinson recommended her to serve.

The school’s principal, Sean Graham, objected to the appointment on grounds that she had served on the board for three consecutive terms and that the institution needed “an infusion of newness”. He also said that concerns had been raised that the school had been politically tainted, thus stifling broad-based support.

His position was supported by Dr Ivoline Fletcher, then acting regional director, at the education ministry.

A Grace McLean-led meeting concluded that Graham had no authority to recommend a chairman and Marshall-Williams was subsequently reappointed as chairman.

In relation to Lacovia, on the three occasions that Marshall-Williams was appointed to the board, Hutchinson recommended her appointment.

The Integrity Commission report said that Dr Nadine Leachman, the ministry’s regional director, objected to the appointment, noting that Marshall-Williams was recommended to serve on two of the three high-school boards in the constituency and that this bordered on manipulation of the institutions’ governance.

Leachman also objected to Marshall-Williams’ appointment to Lewisville’s board, arguing that she was the chairman of Maggotty and that there were concerns regarding her capacity to effectively manage both roles, according to the report.

The matter was referred to then education minister Ruel Reid and McLean, but Marshall-Williams was subsequently appointed for just over two weeks.

The Gleaner contacted Murray for comment on the report, but the call was disconnected. She did not respond to subsequent calls.

Graham said that he would not comment on the report but noted that political appointments on school boards should be limited to the role of chairman.

The Maggotty principal noted that the Government ought to have a representative on boards but said that the chairmanship should be enough.

“We don’t want schools to seemingly, whether overtly, covertly, reality or perceived, have too much link to politics because education is greater than that. We must be seeking the national interest. We really shouldn’t seemingly be aligned to any political party,” said Graham.

“We should assign persons based on skill set after assessing what is it that we want to achieve,” he added.

Principal of St Elizabeth Technical High School, Keith Wellington, in the neighbouring St Elizabeth North Eastern constituency, insisted in a Gleaner interview on Thursday that consultation between school principals and members of parliament must take place before politically connected persons are recommended.

“There have been instances where board chairmen can’t read. Persons appointed to the board and recommended as chairmen and the only thing they do is sign a cheque,” he said.

Lacovia High’s principal, Ricardo Bennett, said he had no concerns with political appointments and declined to comment on the report’s findings.

Meanwhile, the education minister said that a “big process” is under way with the “rewriting and updating” of the handbook for school boards.

Williams said the ministry is also looking at clauses embedded within the Education Act.

“But that is a process ... . It will take some time. We’re just working through the consultation with different stakeholders in terms of amendments. We are aware that school boards were selected in a particular way and we recognise that we need to modernise and ensure that there is a high level of governance of our school boards,” Williams said.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com